Henry Thoreau, a nineteenth century writer and
philosopher, visited a farmer plowing his field with a team of
oxen. As the two walked behind the plow, they talked about the
kind of diet best suited to build strong bodies. The farmer said,
"You cannot live on vegetable foods solely, for they furnish
nothing to build bones with."

Thoreau mused, "All the while he is talking he is
walking behind his oxen which with vegetable-made bones jerks him
and his plow along."

Plant foods are rich in minerals and vitamins and
build not only the bones and flesh of oxen but strong humanbodies as well. Cereal grains, beans,
peas, seeds, and nuts contain considerable protein. The
President's Science Advisory Committee reports that 70 percent of
the world's supply of protein is derived from vegetable sources,
mainly from grains. Plant foods also contribute unsaturated fats
and a variety of carbohydrates.

If you doubt that a vegetarian diet can build human
bone and flesh, just take a look at the population explosion in
areas where the diet is largely rice and legumes as in India;
corn, millet, peanuts, and other legumes as in areas of Africa;
or corn tortillas and beans as in Latin America. If such
predominantly vegetarian diets of rather limited choice can
produce the world's greatest fertility and growth, then certainly
a more varied type of vegetarian diet need lack no essentials. A
study of comparable groups of vegetarians and nonvegetarians
found a diet of plant foods with milk and eggs to be as adequate
for the needs of all age groups - adults, teen-agers, and
pregnant women - as the conventional meat diet.

Obviously man is not dependent on animals to
prefabricate his foods, particularly his protein, for him. He can
go directly to the primary source - the plant - and get what he
needs himself. Thus Harvard University nutritionists assured
Americans during the food crisis of World War II that "as
long as this country has access to a plentiful supply of calories
and a variety of whole-grain cereals and legumes, it is most
unlikely that impairment of health from protein deficiency will
ever occur."

But why this concern over diet? Can diet kill?

Western countries with their large consumption of
meat, milk, and eggs have a high blood cholesterol level and a
heavy loss of life from coronary heart disease, especially in
middle-aged men. In the United States 723,000 people die each
year from this disease - 171,000 of them below sixty-five years
of age. Such is not the case with peoples whose diet contains
little animal food. Commenting on this finding, Dr. Jeremiah
Stamler, executive director of the Chicago Health Research
Foundation and a pioneer in studying the relationship between
diet and our growing epidemic of heart attacks, points to a rich
diet high in animal products as one of the most important factors
responsible for this plague of coronary disease in affluent
countries. He warns, "In terms of diet the whole American
population runs a risk."This is characterized by excessive
calories, too much total fat, and too much saturated fat and
dietary cholesterol of the kind found in animal products.

Vegetarians have a
distinct advantage

Evidently God who created our bodies knew what kind of
food would keep them operating best. When He created human
beings, He said, "I have given you every plant yielding seed
which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed
in its fruit; you shall have them for food. . . . And God saw
everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good"
(Genesis 1:29, 31, RSV).

Isn't it interesting that scientists have now
discovered that the original diet given to man by God is the best
diet to prevent heart attacks and other disorders?

However, both nonvegetarian and vegetarian diets can
increase the risk of coronary heart disease by an excessive use
of cane sugar. Dr. John Yudkin, of the University of London,
found that men who suffered heart attacks had habitually used
twice as much sugar as men of similar age without heart problems.
Workers at the University of Toronto observed that sugar and
animal fat together in the diet combine to raise the level of
fatty substances in the blood higher than either one alone. Thus
the low cholesterol benefit of plant foods can be sabotaged by an
excessive intake of sugar.

Vegetarian and near-vegetarian diets have distinct
advantages. The cholesterol intake is reduced in proportion to
the reduction of animal foods, and fat is less saturated. Plant
foods provide an abundance of complex carbohydrates which animal
foods do not contain. The starch in plant foods is converted to
glucose for energy, and the indigestible fiber furnishes bulk for
the bowels. Bulky foods have fewer calories and reduce the risk
of overweight. Both the protein and the fat of a vegetarian diet
are moderate in amount and in better balance with the
carbohydrate intake than is the case with meat diets.

You can develop
total excellence

Can diet kill? Usually it does not cause death
immediately, but over the years a diet high in animal foods can
clog up the blood vessels and disable the living machinery to a
point where the life processes can no longer function.

It is the duty of every person, for his own sake and
for the sake of humanity, to inform himself in regard to the laws
of life and conscientiously to obey them. We need to become
better acquainted with that most wonderful of all organisms, the
human body.

This pamphlet has concentrated on only one aspect of
healthful living - a proper diet. May it stimulate you to seek
further counsel, for vigorous health does not depend on chance -
it is the result of obedience to law. The body is the only medium
through which the mind and the soul are developed for the
upbuilding of character.

Actually we should develop all our powers - mental,
moral, physical, and spiritual - because we belong to God by
right of creation and redemption. We ought to present our bodies
to Him as a living sacrifice. We need to realize that all our
powers of mind and body are the gift of God to be preserved in
the best possible condition for His service.